The dog had been abused. His veterinarian believed he had also been hit by a car because his hip was shattered in two places, making one leg unusable. The vet inserted pins into Sparky’s hip, but after six weeks in a foster home, Sparky still wasn’t using the leg. He seemed destined to function as a three-legged dog.

Then along came Kim Whaley of Spring, TX, who saw Sparky on Petfinder. “When I found Sparky online,” she says, “he had a face only a mother could love.”

Kim turned out to be that “mother.” She adopted him, and he responded well to all the love and food she heaped upon him.

After the jump: Learn the fate of Sparky’s injured leg.

Gradually, Sparky’s problems went away, and these days, he has put on weight,
his coat has improved and he can outrun Kim’s two other dogs — using all
four of his legs!

“He has brought so much joy to me and wouldn’t leave my side after I had
surgery,” Kim says. “He is the perfect dog and an example of why people
need to look for rescue dogs as pets.”

And Sparky is a mystery dog no more. TLC had turned him into a beautiful Schnauzer.